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Best Screenplays, Best Screenwriting Books, Christian Living, Film, How to write a screenplay, Movies, Screenwriting, Screenwriting for Beginners, writing
In today’s article I will be picking up on my series “The Art of Screenwriting”. In my first article I discussed ways to take an idea and flesh it out. You can read the full article HERE. Over the next several weeks I hope to break down that article in greater detail to help you form your first screenplay.
First we have to start at the beginning. This article is for those who are beginners. Now I DON’T consider myself an expert screenwriter by any stretch of the imagination but I’ve had a passion for movies and writing since I was a kid. I’ve spent years crafting and honing in on my skills. The advice I’m giving you is from my personal experience through continual trial and error.
Perhaps you’re starting out where I did. A poor young adult, with no money for film school, but an imagination beyond the stars and a passion to tell stories. It’s not something you want to do but have to do. So where do you begin?
1. Read Books on Screenwriting:
I’ve read countless books on screenwriting, some good and some bad. I’m usually not a big fan of the “HOW TO” theories in screenwriting books because screenwriting is an art and it’s a gift. But if you have a gift for story telling you still have to know screenplay structure and format. Basically read the books, master structure and format then forget them. Here is a list of my favorite screenwriting books.
1. The Screenwriter’s Bible by David Trottier.
2. Adventures in The Screen Trade by William Goldman
3. Making Movies by Sidney Lumet
4. Your Screenplay Sucks by William M. Akers
5. Riding The Alligator by Pen Densham
6. Kazan on Directing by Elia Kazan
7. The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters by Karl Iglesias
8. Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting by Syd Field
9. Ernest Hemingway on Writing by Larry W. Phillips
2. Read Screenplays:
This is the most important of them all. Read screenplays and read a bunch of them. The more you read the more you will understanding structure and format. If you want to write a crime drama then read the screenplays of your favorite crime drama movies. The sites I use for reading screenplays can be found HERE and HERE. Below is a list of screenplays I suggest you read for examples.
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark by Lawrence Kasdan READ HERE
2. Casablanca by Julius Epsteign/Phillip Epsteign/Howard Koch READ HERE
3. The Dark Knight by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan READ HERE
4. The Godfather by Mario Puzo READ HERE
5. Lawrence of Arabia by Robert Bolt READ HERE
6. Inglorious Bastards written by Quentin Tarantino READ HERE
7. Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back by Lawrence Kasdan READ HERE
8. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid by William Goldman READ HERE
9. Back to the Future by Robert Zemeckis & Bob Gale READ HERE
10. Casino Royale by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade READ HERE
3. Read Classic Novels:
It’s very important to read old classics. If you’re not reading old classics you’re missing out on great material. Here are just a few of my favorite old classics.
1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
4. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
6. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
7. The Lord of the Rings J.R.R. Tolkien
9. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
10. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
For more classics CLICK HERE.
4. Watch Classic Movies:
This seems like common sense but I can’t stress it enough. Watch movies and watch a lot of them. Don’t just watch them for entertainment but study them. Study the characters, plot points, beats, dialogue and structure. Here is a good goal. Go to the Internet Movie Database’s Top 250 Movies and start knocking them off your list. You can find the list here: http://www.imdb.com/chart/top
I hope this article has been helpful and has encouraged you to write your screenplay. If you have any questions feel free to ask. Next week I will discuss character creation and log lines.
-JL
The Art of Scriptology 
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